Aishiteru
by freeze1
Summary: A boy walks alone in the early autumn morning, reminiscing on what he had...and lost...[Mimato]


Authors Notes: Hi, it's me again! And this is, what, the 7th or 8th Mimato I've written? I can't help it, I really like them together! Anyways, I actually wrote this a little bit ago but I just came back from a dance and decided to post it now. Hehe. This isn't anything long or numerous, just a short, sad and sweet Mimato fic for you all to read *cough* and review. 

Disclaimer: Digimon belongs to Togei. Not to me. Hehe. 

The soft breezed whispered softly, sending shivers through the spines of the colorful leaves. They fluttered about, some of them letting go of their home and spiraling about towards the ground. The paved sidewalk was littered with them, with red, orange and yellow leaves forming a little rainbow on the ground. Some were fresh and wet, sticking to the pavement by the morning dew while some were old and crumbly, making a "crunch" like sound whenever anyone trodded over them. 

**~Ashiteru~  
A Mimato One-Shot**

His footsteps were muffled slightly by the soft, wet morning leaves and only crunched every once and a while. In the soft early morning light he looked slightly strange, walking alone on an empty street, his body silhouetted against the autumn leaves. His hands were shoved in his pockets, his eyes turned towards the ground and his white shirt ruffling slightly in the wind. His sleek blond hair had a dull gleam to it in the reflected light of the streetlamp which had been turned off only minutes ago. 

He sighed softly, his warm breath forming mist in the chilly air. He shouldn't have been out there. He had snuck out of the house while his father had still been asleep on the couch, clutching his empty beer bottle to his chest. He had quickly cleaned up the mess from dinner off the table, then walked out the door, not caring if it was locked behind him. There was no use in worrying if anyone would find him, his father wouldn't be up for another couple of hours. He still had some time… 

He smiled softly to himself. Mother would have never let him do anything like this. She would have been after him within the second, realizing he was gone before he had even left. She seemed to have a sixth sense about those kinds of things he had noticed, like the time when he was staying over at Takeru's and attempted to smuggle some comics over to Taichi's. Takeru had warned him not to, that mother would find out, and sure enough she did. Takeru was always complaining about his mothers strange ability to know whenever he was lying. 

Takeru would never let him do anything like this either. The little blond boy's face popped up into his mind, his blue eyes worried and his blond hair matted about. He had wanted to come and stay with him and his father for the weekend, he knew it. He was worried. The boy shook his head slowly to himself. There was no point in it, in keeping a pure and innocent kid in a messy house with a drunk like that. And Takeru would have been keeping his eye on him the whole time, which he wouldn't have been able to stand. He needed to be out here. He needed to be away from everything… 

He knew Takeru was safe with his mother, over in their cozy apartment. They lived in the same apartment as two other digidestined, Miyako and Iori. He wasn't going to be in any danger. Because if he was, the memories would be too strong for him to come out here at all… 

~Flashback~ 

His mind was spinning crazily as he stared up, not believing his eyes. It was huge, simply enormous, bigger then anything he had ever seen take a skyscraper. Razor sharp teeth and claws seemed to be it's most prominent feature besides it's flaming red eyes. 

In it's hand was a boy. He was shivering like mad, curled up into a tiny ball in the huge things palm. His hat had been stripped from him and his face was covered with dirt, his blond hair a complete mess. 

"Oh my god…" he whispered under his breath. He lepta to his feet along with the others, simply staring up at the huge creature before them. Hikari started to cry as Taichi stepped protectively in front of her. 

"He…has…" Sora whispered softly, not finished her sentence as she turned to stare at him. 

"TAKERU!!!" He screamed, closing his eyes and forcing the words out of him. His mind was reeling, his heart thumping in his chest. The creature just stared at him, a cruel smile playing on its face. 

"You want him? Come and claim him!" And with that it jumped, it's blood red wings spreading out like knives cutting the sky and began to soar off. He started to chase after it, knowing that it wouldn't help. Knowing that his 8 year old brother was about to… 

"Come back! Come back right now!" He hollered, his pace quickening. "Damnit! Takeru!" The little boy opened his eyes and stared down, catching his. 

"YAMATO!!!" He screamed shrilly at the top of his lungs. "YAMATO!!! HELP ME!!!" The creature was growing farther and father away. 

"TAKERU!!!!!!!!" He fell to his feet, watching Dedramon fly away until neither of them could be seen. He could feel a tear slip down his cheek, then more as he pounded his fist into the hard earth. He looked down at it, seeing blood start to stain the glove he wore. 

"Damn…" 

~End Flashback~ 

He looked down at right hand, eyeing the tiny scab on the third knuckle. The cold air blew over it, making it tingle. He sighed, forcing his hand down as far as possible into his pocket. It had been such a long time ago. And yet whenever he thought of it the same tingle would run through his knuckles, like a hollow whisper. 

He kept walking along, kicking a small stone and watching it skip along the paved sidewalk, landing in the gutters of the street. He eyed it for a moment, then continued on down the road. 

He stopped, thinking about the rock that he had clumsily kicked into the gutter. A voice nagged at the back of his mind, telling him to go back and pick it up. He tried to ignore it, but there had been times when he hadn't trusted his instincts before… 

~Flashback~ 

He sat in the corner, his head buried in his hands. His eyes were closed and the cold wind was cutting across his bare arms, sending shivers down his spine. 

"Yamato?" He looked up at the voice and met a pair of chocolaty brown eyes. A boy was standing in front of him, his brown hair sticking out in all directions and a pair of foggy goggles plastered to his head. 

"Go away Taichi," he answered plainly. He didn't say anything, but he could see him lower his hair-filled head. The girl next to him stepped forwards hesitantly. Her orange hair was blowing at the ends, as the rest was held to her head by a large blue helmet. 

"Yamato, we're really sorry…" She said, her voice sounding troubled. He shook his head, chuckling slightly. 

"Sorry?" he asked. "How could you be sorry? How could you know what I feel right now?" Now it was the boys turn to step forwards, his hand clenching into a fist. 

"Watch it!" he exclaimed. "Don't you dare say that I don't know what you feel!" The girl glared back at him as if telling him to shut up, then knelt down next to him. He turned his face away from her, seeing a blue and white furry creature to his other side. 

"Are you alright, Yamato?" It asked quietly. He clenched his fists, brushing a strand of blond hair out of his face. 

"Does it look like I'm alright?" He asked, his voice threateningly loud. The creature took a step back, then looked down, it's face sad. 

"Yamato!" the boy exclaimed. "What do you think you're doing? I do know what you feel! If Hikari was ever taken away from me I would kill myself! Or how about the time when Agumon digivolved to skullgreymon accidentally, or when Sora was kidnapped by Datamon?" The girl looked up at him, her cheeks red and a surprised look on his face. He looked down, as if realizing what he had just said. Luckily she turned around, finishing for him. 

"Just because you're upset doesn't mean you can treat your friends and your digimon like that!" She said, but her 'threatening' voice was quavering slightly and her cheeks were still tinted pink. The boy turned to his friend, reaching out a stained gloved hand to pat the creature on the head before taking it away and putting his head in his hands yet again. 

He could hear Gabumon sigh sadly, but didn't care. He wished they would all just leave him alone, but he knew it was a lost cause. He didn't mind Gabumon that much, except for the sympathetic stares that were starting to annoy him. It was more Taichi and Sora. They were just standing there, blushing like crazy over each other which made him feel extremely… 

Alone. 

Sora started talking again, but he tuned her out, not wanting to listen. Not wanting to hear the words he knew she was saying. "You should go after him". That wouldn't be any help. He had failed to rescue him, now there was no chance of getting him back. And he was too worthless, too slow and stupid to ever save him. Takeru was gone. 

"WAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" He raised his head at the noise, and Taichi whirled around, his hand covering his eyes as he looked into the sun. Out popped a tiny creature running at them at full speed, two other figures next to it. Finally they came into view and he recognized the screaming, crying little digimon as Palmon, Mimi's partner. On one side of it was Koushirou, holding his laptop under his arm and to the other side was Jyou who was attempting to carry a very uncomfortable looking Hikari. Taichi grabbed Hikari out of Jyou's arms as Sora rushed to calm the screaming Palmon. 

"Shh, shh," she said soothingly, "It'll be alright. Now tell me, Palmon, what's happened?" The little flower digimon rubbed it's huge eyes with the back of it's claws. 

"It's…Mimi…" the creature sniffed, tears flowing out of it's eyes. This caught his attention as the blond boy looked towards the digimon. His heart seemed to start thumping faster in his chest as he waited for the digimon's explanation. 

"She's…GONE!!!" Finally it burst into tears, sobbing and grabbing Sora's hand. Sora looked scared and surprised, then quickly grabbed something out of the digimon's hand. She quickly glanced over at him, and he felt his chest constrict. 

"Dear Yamato and fellow Digidestined," she read, "If you're reading this, then I've already left. I just feel so terrible about what happened to Takeru, and that none of us could do anything about it. I know I haven't been the biggest help to the team lately, and so I've left on my own. Takeru is like a little brother, and I promise that I'll find him. Yamato, if you ever get the chance to read this, I hope you feel better about Takeru; you seemed so sad before. I promise to find him. Sincerely, Mimi." There was a long silence, then he felt himself jump to his feet. 

"NANI?" He yelled, snatching the note from Sora's hands. He read it over and over, not believing what was happening. The sound of Palmon's sobs echoed through the group as he clenched the note in his fist. 

"MIMI!!!" 

~End Flashback~ 

He found himself bending over the edge of the sidewalk, frantically searching for the tiny pebble. He finally grabbed hold of it, feeling it enclose itself in his palm. He stood up, eyeing the small rock. It was smooth, yet had a rough texture on some of the sides. It glinted in the morning light as though it was a dirty mirror, and it was warm as though it was embedded in earth, yet it wasn't dirty. He sighed and stuffed it in his pocket. 

He walked quietly up to a corner in the road and stopped again, looking at the road that seemed to go straight on. He could see nice and neatly painted houses lined up in rows, the autumn leaves filling their bright green yards. He sighed, clenching onto the rock in his pocket as he looked the other way. 

The more trees, the more leaves, it's a simple equation. Leaves of all different colors were covering the ground, creating a pastel carpet. It seemed inhabited almost, that road, as though no one had ever taken the time to walk by there. And he clenched the rock in his pocket and sighed. 

~Flashback~ 

The wind whipped his body, causing him to wince. His blond hair blew about freely as his body lurched in motion to the steps of the huge animal he was riding. He shuddered as another tree branch came back unexpectedly, slapping him in the face. He brought his right arm out of the creature's fur and up to shield his eyes, feeling the sting from where the branch had hit. 

"Faster Garurumon!" He yelled, and felt the pace of the huge digimon increase. Trees were whizzing past him so fast they were becoming a blur of brown and green. He looked up in the sky to his left and saw a huge creature flying up in the sky, two figures and one very, very small thing in one of the figures arms. Taichi, Sora and Kari. They were all on Birdramon, heading in a different direction. He didn't even need to look to the right to see Kabuterimon with Koushirou on it's back, flying off to the right, the sound from Kabuterimon's wings echoing through the forest. They were all heading off in different directions to look. But he was going alone, and going the way he knew that they would go. 

How'd he know? Gut instinct. 

After a dash they were in a huge clearing then within minutes back into the forest again, nearly springing off the trees to gain speed. After another few seconds they had reached a second clearing, although in the middle of this one was a large, stone building. Garurumon stopped, nearly throwing the boy off it's back. 

"Sorry," it muttered. The blond boy shook his head, jumping off and patting it quickly. 

"No problem," he said. "Now let's get in there." It was dark inside, the only light was the pale and translucent glow from the doorway. Garurumon seemed to be growling, it's teeth bared at whatever was lurking in the old stone building. The light reflected into the room, revealing large pillars of light for a moment before Garurumon blocked the light. He walked up to one and touched it, feeling the cold and grimy metal. 

"Jail bars…" he whispered under his breath. There was suddenly a shriveling sound and a whimper. 

"Y-Yamato?" He spun around, racing towards the jail cell at the far end of the buildling. He pushed his hand through the bars, grouping around for the inhabitant. Suddenly a tiny, sweaty hand grabbed his. 

"Takeru!" The boy started to cry and he brought his hand up to wipe off his face, his heart throbbing. He was alright… 

"Shh, Takeru, don't cry," he said, trying to calm his brother. "It's okay. I'm here now. I won't let anyone take you away." After a moment the boy seemed to calm himself, then spoke with a scared voice. 

"I knew you would come Yamato, but…but…" He looked at his brother curiously, then it hit him. 

"Where's Mimi?" He asked, trying to peer through the bars to see if she was in there too. The boy started to cry again, his sobs echoing through the room. 

"She's over there! She won't wake up!" He froze, then jumped to his feet and searched the wall for something. He found it, then grabbed a match from his pocket and lighted the torch, illuminating the ground around him. He felt his heart leap to his throat as the light extended to the cell opposite Takeru's. 

A girl was lying on the ground on her back, her auburn hair spilling out behind her. Her eyes were closed and her face was dirty, with bruise marks on it and a trickle of blood falling from her lip. Her arm looked twisted and her pink dress was ripped in several places. 

"M-Mimi!" He exclaimed, running over to her instantly. He set the torch down in a hatch above them and grasped onto the bars of her stall, shaking them furiously. 

"Mimi! Mimi!" He yelled, feeling sweat start to drip off his forehead as he stared at the girl. "What happened to her, Takeru?" The boy started sniffling yet again. 

"Dedramon attacked her!" He sobbed. "He asked her where everyone was and when she didn't tell them he attacked her! She gave him a false location and he flew off, but he's gonna come back and when he realizes it's the wrong place he'll finish her off for sure! If he hasn't already!" His world was spinning as he stared at her. He reached in his hand, trying to touch her. 

"Kami-sama…" he whispered, biting his lip. If only he could grasp her, wake her up and have her shout at him for being a perv, anything! He finally pushed himself far enough to touch her hand and strained his body so that he could pull it up into his. He forced his glove, hers with it and rubbed her hand around in his, trying to bring the cold piece of flesh to life. 

"Garurumon…" he whispered. "Find the others. Have them come here now." There was a rustle and the huge digimon was gone. Takeru was still sniffling in the corner and he could feel himself start to loose it. His eyes were on her quiet face, smudged with scars and dirt. Suddenly he eyed the ground beneath her and nearly screamed. 

"Takeru! How did he attack her?" He asked loudly. 

"He…he slashed her with his wings…" The boy sobbed. Yamato cringed, eyeing the pool of blood that was growing beneath the girl. He tried to reach in to turn her over to stop the blood. Once before Takeru had bled like that after tripping over a rock and had to be rushed to the hospital. But there was so much blood, and he was sure… 

"Pulse, pulse," he murmured to himself, trying to feel around for a pulse on her limp hand. Her hand was cold and his was numb, and he couldn't tell if she had a pulse at all, or even if he was feeling in the right place. 

"I'll kill him…" he whispered. "I'll kill that filthy…" The boy was staring at him, he knew it. He could feel his small eyes boring through him. 

"What happened" He asked anxiously. 

"This is all my fault," he whispered, clutching his head with his open hand. "It's all my fault! It should have been me to leave to look, not her! She had nothing to do with this! She wasn't part of this! And now…now…Dedramon has killed her!" There was silence except for the sound of sobs, which he realized now weren't coming from Takeru but from himself. His vision started to turn blurry as he looked at their intertwined hands. But now all he could see was red…was the red blood staining their hands… 

And he felt his world turn black. 

~End Flashback~ 

He shuddered involuntarily at the remembrance. Clenching the rock in his pocket, he recalled waking up in a small shelter in the forest with Takeru looking over him. His hand had been bandaged and his head as well. 

Koushirou had explained that he had gotten there immediately, and found both Yamato and Mimi in a horrible state. Kabuterimon had successfully gotten down the jail bars while the others arrived and fought Dedramon away from outside. He hadn't said much about Mimi, but said that in his worry he had cut his wrist on the side of the jail bar and that if he had lost any more blood he would have surely died. 

Takeru had hugged him, calling him "The best big brother" over and over again, asking him if he was okay. It had made him happy to hear that, that he had gotten his brother back safe and sound. But what didn't make him happy…was everything in-between. 

It hadn't been Mimi's fault. She had been dragged into everything because he had failed to act. And the sight of her lying in a pool of her own blood scared him. It was one of the few things that really terrified him. 

And he was Yamato Ishida. He would run away from fear if it took him to the end of the earth. But you can never run from fear forever…and sometimes you just have to turn and face the consequences… 

~Flashback~ 

He sat back against the old birch tree, staring out into the clear water. There were still some ripples from when the digimon had been playing, but other then that it was mostly clear. He could see his face reflected in it as though it was a huge mirror. He sighed, wishing he take out his harmonica and play everything away. 

"Ne, Yamato?" He saw a boy jog up to him, then kneel down next to him in the reflection of the lake. His brown hair was up atop his head and his goggles for once not up there with it, but rather hanging around his neck. He nodded to acknowledge the boys presence. 

"Listen, Yamato, I know you probably don't want to talk to anyone right now after the mood you've been in an-uh…I mean, since you're in recovery." A large sweatdrop appeared on the back of his head. 

"You're right, Taichi, I don't really feel like talking," he said quietly. The boy frowned. 

"Well, I just thought you'd like to know," he said cautiously. "It's about Mimi." His voice sounded sad, and Yamato could see his reflection in the water, the dreary clouds in his eyes. Something was wrong. He could feel his heart start to pump faster again, and held his wrist with his other hand to keep any blood from spilling out. 

"What about Mimi?" He asked, trying to sound calm. The other boy sighed, then began to explain. 

"She's getting better quickly," he said, causing Yamato to sigh with relief. "Except when we sent Sora back to tell her parents, they told her to get Mimi back to the real world quickly because…well…Mimi's moving to America." His heart stopped. He couldn't feel it beating anymore, and suddenly his reflection disappeared and the only thing visible in the clear waters was a girls face. She was smiling, her auburn eyes glimmering and her hair flowing about her shoulders. 

"Mimi…" he whispered under his breath, so quiet that Taichi couldn't hear it. And then the image came to his mind again, the horrific scene of her lying on the ground, the blood seeping about her body… 

"Oh," he answered, forcing his heart to beat once again. Taichi was staring at him with a confused look on his face. 

"Oh? Oh?" He asked. "What do you mean, 'oh'? This is important! She is moving away!!!" He nodded, chucking a small rock into the lake to cause ripples that faded the girls smiling face, and when the river calmed itself the two boys were the only things reflected. 

"The farther away she is from me the better," he answered, not looking the other boy in the eye. 

"NANI???" 

"I nearly killed her," he spat out. "She would have died if it wasn't for Garurumon getting there so fast. I won't let that happen again. She'll be safe in America, it's all the way on the other side of the world. Just about as far away as you can get from me." The boy was shaking his head. 

"You've gone mental!" he exclaimed. "Mimi told me, as Sora was helping her get back to the regular world to tell you that she would like to see you at the airport, but she wasn't sure if you'd be able to make it because of your wrist…" 

"Tell her my dad wants me to stay in bed," he said sharply. There was a long period of silence, then finally the courage-holder sighed. 

"She also left this message," he said drearily. "She told me to tell you this: 'I know that someday we'll meet again, and I'm looking forward to it.'" He got up, brushing grass off his legs. 

"Yamato, I hope you know what you're doing," he said sadly, then ran off, leaving a sad, blond boy staring into a large lake filled with ripples from his tears. 

~End Flashback~ 

His hand clenched around the pebble in his pocket as he shut his eyes from the memory. It had been so long ago, yet it seemed as if it had only been yesterday. The day that he had so foolishly thrown away…everything… 

He turned suddenly as a brilliant light flooded onto the sidewalk. The trees had seemed to melt away, leaving a large grassy field before him which spread out for miles. He could feel a cool breeze wisp through his hair, waving it around a bit. He closed his eyes, sighing deeply. 

_I wish I hadn't done it…I wish I hadn't made the choice I made. If only I could just see her again, just one more time. I never cared about her much before, but not being able to see her for so long has been pure torture. It was the right decision, though. She'll never be hurt by me again. Yet I wish…_

And suddenly he felt compelled to open his eyes, and gasped. A figure was blocking the light, a slender, feminine like figure whom he thought at first to be an angel. She seemed to hear him, and looked over her shoulder to see who it was. 

She had on a long, brown fur coat that draped below her knees with long wide sleeves and heavy fur trim at the ends and around the collar. The coat was unbuttoned, and underneath he could see a short white skirt and a rose colored t-shirt. Her auburn eyes met his, her pink hair flowing around her shoulders. Her cute face stared at him for a moment, then smiled widely. 

"Mimi…" he managed to choke out. The girl turned around fully, a beam brighter then the sun appearing on her face. 

"YAMATO!!!" She squealed. Then as if for her life she began to run towards him, her arms spread out wide as if to engulf him. He stood there, his heart thumping in his chest as he stared at her… 

And all in an instant he abandoned all his fears, the huge overwhelming darkness that seemed to be surrounding him and like a child ran towards her. With a loud squeal she was up in his arms, and he was swinging her around and around in the air, the sun exploding about them. 

And then he let her down, but before he could say anything she had thrown her arms around him, latching onto him tightly. He stood there stiffly as she hugged him, hearing her happy sobs into his ear. 

"I thought I'd never see you again!" She exclaimed, breaking down onto his shoulder. "I thought you would just leave me alone! Kami-sama, I missed you Yamato Ishida!" He sighed, emotions welling over him. 

"I didn't want you to get hurt," he whispered, then pried her from him, holding her back at arms length to stare at her in the eye. Her auburn eyes were red and tears were streaming down her face. She looked so sweet, so innocent, so pure… 

"With me around, you would just be in danger," he whispered. "I nearly killed you once, and I won't do it again." She shook her head. 

"It was my choice to go after Takeru, Yamato," she whispered. "That wasn't your fault! Please tell me you're still not blaming yourself for that!" 

"Mimi," he whispered, the words rolling off his tongue slowly. "It was my fault. I couldn't do anything about it. You would be in danger around me…" She shook her head, a faint smile on her face. 

"No Yamato," she whispered again. "You left to keep me safe, but if that was 'safe' then what's 'in trouble'? You don't understand Yamato! I care about you so much, I need you so much…and I want you to be with me…if that's what you want…" And as he looked at her, he no longer saw the innocent girl he used to see. He saw an angel, a real angel standing before him. Someone who could help him through everything that he had been through… 

"Dammit," he whispered, then roughly reached out and dragged her to him, wrapping his arms around her protectively. He could feel tears start to slip down his cheeks, and didn't care whether she knew or not. His body was wracking with sobs as he held her, enclosing his arms as tightly as possible and wishing he could never let go. 

"I missed you…" he whispered, not knowing what else to say. He knew she was smiling, he didn't even need to see it. 

"I missed you too," she answered. He could feel her open her mouth as if to say something, then close it, realizing that it didn't need to be said. And she began to laugh, the same high and floaty laugh he had heard so many times before. And he too began to laugh, tears still running down his cheeks as he laughed along with her. Nothing needed to be said that wasn't already said…and everything would get better now… 

"Perhaps we should be going home Yamato?" She asked through her laughter. He shook his head, pulling her closer. 

"How bout we stay like this just a little longer?" He asked. She smiled, turning her head and softly kissing him on the cheek. 

"Sounds good to me," she whispered, sending tingles down his spine. And he felt the pebble resting safely in his pocket as the chorus of morning birds started to sing, and in their melody he could hear those unspoken words… 

_Aishiteru…_

Authors Notes: Okay, I know it was short and sappy. Just thought I'd sneak in a breather because I don't know if I'll be writing much Digimon related stuff for a while. I know it's short, but PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!! 


End file.
